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Illarian Currency
Currency in Illaria is varied by region, kingdom, and local customs though much of the civilized world accepts the standard Illarian gold coin known as the qrone. Early Currencies and Methods of Exchange The earliest known method of exchange is bartering, the act of trading an item or service for an item or service deemed equal in difficulty or value. For many hundreds of years, this system was actually the dominant form of trade in Illaria and in fact still persists today in the form of "quests." Though the name has changed, the meaning remains the same. To quest is to barter, generally when one party has nothing of value to the other party other than their time and muscle. Though bartering offered many advantages, it could not set actual value to materials or services. After the War of Good and Evil, when large projects started to become common and entire guilds of people would demand recompense for their time and energy, a form of credit had to be created to ensure that the workers were all given compensation based on their contribution. Thus, the first currency in the form of uniquely scored bone chips was made available to guild workers who could exchange them for goods and services in a way that reflected their time and effort. However, when the process for scoring the chips was made public, and a flood of forged chips entered the market, the system broke down and there was a worker strike for many years until something could be done about their wages. The answer came in the form of steel. A Dwarven engineer designed a machine called a Steel-ton press that could create small steel-alloy tokens with any design needed. This machine made it impossible for anyone who did not possess one to create the exact coinage. These machines were quickly given to the High Council Chambers of Everes where a new mint was created to distribute the coins to various locations throughout Everes. These coins, and the secretive process for making them kept the token-based economy running for many years until the years leading up to the Dragon Crusades when the Highborne captured the High Council Chambers building and destroyed the token manufacturing infrastructure. After the Dragon Crusades, the mints were decentralized and placed in High Council embassies all across Everes where they remain to this day manufacturing coins. Standardization in Everes After the war, the value of the steel-alloy tokens was severely diminished by a shortage of steel used to craft weapons and armor. The tokens generally couldn't buy a set of armor on their own, but could be melted down in large quantities to make suitable armor for poorer families. This caused the second currency market crash in Everesian history, and halted economic progress for almost two years while the High Council debated on its next move to restore prosperity to the people and get commerce flowing again. Eventually a consensus was reached, and the steel presses were set to work making their coins out of gold instead. Gold was not used for wartime smithing and was being consistently found and mined in many parts of the continent where it could be easily transferred and minted. The Standardization process was therefore intended to put a value to the currency, now known as qrone, and make it stick. The High Council hired scholars and mages from the Emerald Tower to work out a way to determine a flat rate for their new gold-based currency. The answer they came up with was a device called the Midas. This magical counting device detects the amount of gold currently in each embassy mint and calculates a rate of exchange based on scarcity or surplus. The High Council also offered up a guide to every embassy and library that details several other methods to more accurately calculate payments when exact exchange is not an option. Among these things was a list of three golden rules that affect the value of qrone based on different factors. In this A''', '''B relationship A''' represents the '''Questee or the one offering payment and B''' represents the '''Quester, or the one receiving the payment. 1. '''Traveling or other time expenses: If A expects B to travel away from his abode or otherwise make arrangements to stay on the road or abroad this should be factored in to the overall payment upon completion. Time is considered an almost secondary currency in Illaria. A person's time is worth a certain expected amount of gold modified by factors like those mentioned in two and three. '''2. The skill of the quester: If B is certified with any technical ranks or titles that denote him as a person of greater skill, he is to be compensated for his time more reasonably than someone who does not have these certifications and titles. There are five certificates and titles that go with them that pay increasingly well in increments of 1 to 10 depending on proximity to a mint; Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Master, and Grand Master. The council reasoned that more seasoned workers are better at their job, and have put in more overall time ot their particular jobs than those who are below them, this leads to a hike in demanded price for more skilled craftsmen and workers. Certificates can be awarded in any major discipline by the High Council or registered guilds. 3. Difficulty and danger: If A expects real danger to be involved in the task at hand whether it's from monsters or environmental hazards like building materials, or bad weather, B should be compensated based on a one to five threat level evaluation which can be referenced in the High Council's currency guide, or simply discussed at the time of the agreement. Danger is everywhere in Illaria and factors into almost all transactions having to do with travel or construction. Coin and Token Types Scored Bone Chips "Tens" : These tokens were approximately the size of a man's palm, bleached white, and scored with a hot iron stamp. The tokens could be diferentiated from one another based on the symbol burned on the surface of the chip. Some employers wanted to pay their workers each day, others only paid each week to ensure the work was done. This facilitated the need to distinguish higher denominations from lower ones. Steel-alloy Tokens "Silvers": These tokens were slightly smaller than the tens that came before them and had a polished silver sheen to them after coming out of the press. This earned them the name "silvers" even though silver was not used in the manufacture of the coins. Like the tens, these silvers were marked with different symbols noting their denomination. Gold-zinc Coins "Qrone": These coins made from a fusion of gold and zinc were even smaller than silvers allowing large handfuls to be picked up at once. For a real world comparison, a qrone (crow-n) (or in some places pronounced "crown") is around the same size and weight of a U.S. nickle. The combination of metals allowed for more to be pressed and for the usually soft gold to retain some measure of hardness after the stamping process.